Chapter 190

“…Uh . ”

「 The bones of the body seemed to be crushed and the skin was stiff, like a dead animal’s skin . 」

I listened to the Fourth Wall’s words as I slowly woke up . The obnoxious voice of the Fourth Wall was now welcome .

「 I am alive . Kim Dokja thought this . 」

I heard Fourth Wall so the plan seemed to be a success . In fact, I couldn’t really say it was a success .

It was natural . The ‘fate’ they gave me was the death of ‘Incarnation Kim Dokja’ . It was natural that the ‘constellation’ Kim Dokja wouldn’t die .

If I was going to disappear so easily, I wouldn’t have built up my stories and become a constellation . The problem was that I lost my body and survived as a ‘constellation’…

“…Where am I?”

The surrounding area was filled with ruined buildings and roads . It was a familiar scene .

“This…?”

Not long after I spoke, I realized the situation I was in . I looked up at the air . The night sky had always been filled with the light of countless constellations . Now there was nothing there .

I was surprised by the deep words I was speaking to myself . I watched the night sky and laughed blankly . “Haha…”

Usually, numerous indirect messages from the constellations should’ve appeared .

For example, the Great Sage the Equal of Heaven who liked it when I talked to myself or the Abyssal Black Flame Dragon… there was also the Demon-like Judge of Fire who liked me for some reason . It was normal for someone to answer but no one answered my monologue .

There wasn’t the Bald General of Justice polishing his head, the One-Eyed Maitreya who would throw his eyepatch if he was bored or the shameless Lady of the Brocade Sleep .

The messages of the constellations disappeared and only a laughably terrible loneliness was left behind .

「 Kim Dokja thought: I’m really alone . 」

[You are currently expelled from the scenario . ]

I slowly looked around the surroundings . Despite being expelled from the scenario, living beings would go to the nearest ‘outside the scenario’ area .

[You are currently in an area outside the scenario . ]

The outside the scenario area that I was currently standing in was a very familiar place to me .

「 Seoul . 」

This place was Seoul’s Gwanghwamun square . It was the place where War of the Kings took place and I crushed the Absolute Throne .

The fact that Seoul had become an area outside the scenario…

The party members… thankfully, they escaped unharmed .

I looked at the place where the former Seoul Dome was located and felt overwhelmed . The place that used to be covered with a translucent membrane was now covered by a thick barrier .

Now the ‘Seoul’ scenario was completely over . The party members were moving onto new scenarios without me and making new stories . From there, they would continue to live .

…Maybe this was how it turned out .

「 Kim Dokja was glad but also somewhat lonely . 」

I thought about the party members for a moment before slowly turning around .

「The lonely Kim Dokja had something to do . For that reason, he chose a miserable death . 」

***

「 While walking on the streets of Seoul, Kim Dokja was immersed in his memories . Whenever he went, he saw where he performed the scenarios with his party members . Kim Dokja once again realized that he had become part of Ways of Survival . He was obviously living this story . 」

“…This is very touching but shouldn’t you stop now? How long are you going to keep muttering?”

「 Kim Dokja was irritated by the poor Fourth Wall . 」

At first, it felt good to have someone beside me . However, I didn’t feel happy about having everything I did explained .

「 How much time has passed? Kim Dokja wanted to ask but no one could answer . 」

“Dammit . You can answer me . ”

I scolded him before deciding to look at my condition .

[Many of your stories have been damaged . ]

[Your current body is completely collapsed . ]

I had survived by using my status as a constellation but I had completely lost my physical body . In other words, my current existence wasn’t ‘flesh’ but a mass of incomplete stories .

[Your current body is in a very dangerous condition . ]

[Methods to preserve your body can’t be found . ]

It was an uneasy state where I could completely collapse if anyone touched me . This wasn’t living .

I decided to try everything I could .

[Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint isn’t available in this area . ]

…As expected, it didn’t work .

[You can’t communicate with your incarnation . ]

This also didn’t work . I was expecting it but I was really weird because it didn’t work out . It felt like I was living alone in an area where no communication was possible .

Of course, my actual situation was worse than that .

[You can’t use the channel system . ]

Since I was banished from the scenario, I naturally couldn’t access the channel and my contract with Bihyung was cancelled . I stared at the sky without stars and felt empty freedom .

…Now I was really alone . Once I realized this fact, a chill started to creep in .

「 Nobody sees me and I can’t see anyone either . 」

No, I wasn’t completely alone .

「 In the midst of this, Kim Dokja suddenly realized . He felt a sense of existence through someone’s eyes . 」

“I’m not thinking such philosophical things, Idiot . Rather, how long are you going to keep this up?”

「 The stupid Kim Dokja doesn’t know . Why the great Fourth Wall is doing this hard work . 」

…What?

“Why can’t you just explain? What the hell are you? You are a skill right?”

「 The stupid Kim Dokja is talking to the air . 」

It was a real jerk .

「 Stupid Kim Dokja… 」

“Can’t you stop? Do you want me to turn the skill off?”

Then a sound was heard in the air .

「 The Fourth Wall asks, ‘Th en should I qui t?’ 」

I was a bit surprised . This brat, it could express itself more clearly now? Come to think of it, last time…

“Yes, stop . I don’t want to be bothered right now . ”

[The exclusive skill ‘Fourth Wall’ is silent . ]

The next moment, I regretted my choice . I felt the air around me freezing . It suddenly penetrated deeply into my bones . I felt the air in my lungs clogging up .

“Cough…?”

At this moment, something belatedly came to my mind . It was the reason why Vedas and Olympus sent me to the outside the scenario area .

It was due to this exact situation . It was a plot to kill ‘Incarnation Kim Dokja’ and deal with ‘Constellation Kim Dokja . ’

“K-Kuoooock…”

I tried to scream but there was no sound . I could breathe but I couldn’t breathe . It felt as if someone had squeezed my lungs and my breath was blocked . My head turned blank and my thoughts were erased one by one .

The Star Stream was a world of stories . There were no exceptions, whether it was for incarnations or constellations . Every being existed through a ‘story . ’

[The speed of the damage to your stories has increased!]

[Your existence has started to vanish . ]

In a place with no ‘stories’, nothing could exist . Even me .

‘Damn, save me!’

I shouted while fearing that I would disappear . I could finally see why the Fourth Wall had such a big mouth . It kept speaking in order to save me . In a place where there were no stories, it kept me alive…

It kept telling me ‘stories . ’

[The exclusive skill ‘Fourth Wall’ is activated . ]

「 The Fourth Wall says, “Je…rk . ” 」

I managed to start breathing again .

“Pant, pant…”

I knew that being banished from the scenario was terrible but I hadn’t expected it to be this much .

Indeed, even Cheok Jungyeong couldn’t survive outside the scenario without the help of a nebula… damn, I thought too shallowly about the situation .

I thought I could move onto the first target area somehow if I gave up a few stories…

It would’ve been hard for me to live if it hadn’t been for the Fourth Wall .

「 Kim Dokja thought: I should never turn off the Fourth Wall again . 」

I couldn’t refute the words in my miserable mood .

“…By the way, how long can you keep it up?”

「 The Fourth Wall says, “No t lon g . ” 」

Intense sparks appeared as the Fourth Wall spoke . Indeed, it would be strange that the Fourth Wall could cope alone with something that required the probability of a nebula .

I didn’t have much time . If I couldn’t finish my task in a timely manner, I would die here .

At this moment, a noise was heard from somewhere . It was reminiscent of a vacuum cleaner…

「 Kim Dokja knows what this is . 」

“Yes, I know . The scenario cleaners . ”

The appearance of a cleaner meant a major ‘clean-up’ of the scenario area had begun .

「 Kim Dokja thought: Since the cleaning has begun, the Great Demon of the Horizon will soon reveal itself . The hyenas who wander through the ruins of the scenario can’t afford to miss out on these delicious ruins . 」

It was amazing to read . However, before I met them, I had to find something first .

「 Kim Dokja picked up his pace . 」

I staggered and gradually sped up . Things reminiscent of small clouds were wandering around the streets . They were the scenario cleaners .

They were ones to watch out for but I ran without worrying . In any case, the cleaners were low and their recognition range was narrow . If I carefully avoided them, it wouldn’t be difficult to reach the target point without being noticed .

I headed south of Gwanghwamun . Euljiro 3-ga, Chungmuro, Dongdae-gu, Yaksu, Geumho Station…

Like a salmon, I passed by the places I had been . Finally, I arrived at Oksu Station .

There, I faced the broken Dongho Bridge . I watched the broken bridge and memories passed through my head . This was the place where Yoo Jonghyuk dropped me into the mouth of an ichthyosaur .

I didn’t know if he was doing well right now . Well, he had Han Sooyoung to help him .

…I had to hope .

I leapt lightly across the broken bridge . In the past, it was a bridge that could only be crossed using Deus X Machina . Now a single leap was enough .

It was a moment that showed how much had changed from the beginning of the scenario .

However, I still had a long way to go . The things I had to cross were waiting for me at a distant much greater than the gap of this broken bridge .

Finally, I reached a half broken subway . This was the start of all the scenarios . I looked at the appearance of the subway before entering and looking through the ruins .

How long did I look? I finally found what I was looking for . It was an item box that was shining white . There was a short message left on the item box .

-Kim Dokja, can I trust you? It was left as you requested . Thank you for being an incarnation of my channel .

It was very obvious who wrote the message .

-Please, be alive .

Of course . I wouldn’t die . I opened the item box . The box contained 300,000 coins and the items I asked to be purchased .

[A new attribute has been acquired . ]

[The item ‘Dokkaebi Egg’ has been acquired . ]

[The item ‘Unbroken Faith’ has been acquired . ]

…

I grabbed all the items and left the subway . That guy was coming in the nick of time . I sat on the bridge and waited .

Soon, that guy would come .

As I thought this, someone appeared on the horizon where the story ended . He was an old man with a giant lump on one cheek . He walked towards this side with a strange expression . It was like he knew I was here .

“Are you the Demon King of Salvation?”

I looked at him for a moment before turning my gaze towards the light of dawn outside the dome .

I thought of the nebulae that would be waiting for me beyond that light . Maybe they would think I was dead by now .

Olympus, Vedas, Papyrus…

I remembered every one of them . All the constellations who laughed at the stories of the incarnations and finally made their own entertainment .

Just wait a little bit .

「 I will pull all of you down from that fucking heaven . 」

TL: Rainbow Turtle